The 2026-27 Federal Budget, Part 4: Shares & Crypto Under the New CGT Rules
- Zac Hayes
- May 14
- 16 min read
Updated: May 21
What’s Actually Changing for Personal Investors
In the previous three parts of this Budget series, I covered the upcoming reforms to negative gearing, trusts, property and CGT in detail, along with the action plan we are running with BWC clients.
The questions that have come in since publishing have surprised me.
Most of them are not about property at all.
They are about shares and crypto held in personal names.
That makes sense. Over the last decade, a lot of our clients have built share portfolios. Even more have crypto positions purchased during the 2020 to 2021 cycle that are sitting well above cost.
The headlines have focused on property, but the same CGT reform applies across the board.
So, what do these changes actually mean for shares and crypto held by individuals?
Let’s walk through it with worked numbers, so you can understand the framework before modelling your own position with appropriate tax advice.
A note on the figures below: the 2026-27 Federal Budget was handed down on 12 May 2026 and most of the CGT measures described still require enabling legislation to take effect.
Where Treasury has published a confirmed figure, I have used it. Where the precise mechanics have not yet been confirmed, I have worked from the Government’s announced direction and flagged the assumption inline. All worked examples use illustrative CPI and price assumptions stated alongside each table. Detail and effective dates may shift throughout the legislative process.
The Short Answer
Right now: if you hold shares or crypto in your own name for more than 12 months, you currently get the same 50% CGT discount that applies to property. Only half the gain is added to your assessable income.
From 1 July 2027: the 50% discount no longer applies to gains accruing from that date. It is proposed to be replaced by CPI cost-base indexation, plus a 30% minimum tax floor on the real gain.
The result: for most assets with growth above inflation, investors may pay more tax on disposal than they would have under the existing rules.
There is no carve-out for shares or crypto. The CGT reform applies to all CGT assets held by individuals, trusts and partnerships. Companies are unaffected because they never had the 50% discount to begin with. Superannuation funds keep their existing one-third discount.
So if you have been holding shares or crypto in personal names, you are in the same boat as property investors, with the same FY27 window to consider.
If you hold material share or crypto positions and are unsure whether FY27 creates a planning opportunity, The Business & Wealth Collective’s EOFY Strategy Session is designed to help identify what may need attention before the end of financial year.
How It Works Right Now, Until 30 June 2027
The current rules are simple, and they apply identically to shares and crypto.
Shares example: you buy 1,000 BHP shares at $40 each. Cost base $40,000. Five years later you sell at $70 each. Proceeds $70,000. Capital gain $30,000.
Crypto example: you buy 1 BTC at $50,000. Two years later you sell at $90,000. Capital gain $40,000.
The mechanics on both:
Step | Shares, $30,000 gain | Crypto, $40,000 gain |
Held more than 12 months? | Yes, eligible for 50% discount | Yes, eligible for 50% discount |
Gross capital gain | $30,000 | $40,000 |
50% CGT discount | ($15,000) | ($20,000) |
Taxable gain added to income | $15,000 | $20,000 |
Tax at top marginal rate, 47% | $7,050 | $9,400 |
Effective rate on the full gain | 23.5% | 23.5% |
That 23.5% effective rate at the top marginal bracket is what the current 50% CGT discount delivers. At lower marginal rates, the effective rate drops proportionally. You are effectively taxed at half your marginal rate on the gain, including Medicare levy.
Using FY26 resident individual tax rates, the effective rates are:
Your marginal rate | Effective rate on the gain |
47%, top rate including Medicare levy | 23.5% |
39%, $135k to $190k including Medicare levy | 19.5% |
32%, $45k to $135k including Medicare levy | 16.0% |
18%, low-income bracket including Medicare levy | 9.0% |
Note: This table uses FY26 resident individual tax rates for simplicity. From 1 July 2026, the 16% resident tax rate for income between $18,201 and $45,000 reduces to 15%, and from 1 July 2027 it reduces further to 14%. Rates should be reviewed against the applicable income year before decisions are made.
That is why holding investments in personal names, particularly in a lower-income spouse’s name, has often been one of the more tax-effective wealth-building approaches available to individuals.
The new rules change that arithmetic significantly, as Worked Example 4 shows below.
A Few Mechanics Specific to Each Asset Shares
The 12-month holding rule applies per parcel. FIFO is commonly used where parcels cannot be specifically identified, but good records may support another identification method. The parcel sold needs to be clearly identifiable.
DRP, or dividend reinvestment plan, shares each have their own holding period. The parcel from your most recent DRP allocation may not yet qualify for the 12-month rule, even if your original holding is years old. This matters for timing decisions.
Capital losses on shares can offset capital gains on any CGT asset, including property, crypto and business assets, and carry forward indefinitely until used.
Stapled securities and units in listed trusts are treated as separate CGT assets. Each component has its own cost base and holding period.
Crypto
The ATO treats crypto as a CGT asset, not as currency. Disposals include selling for AUD, swapping one cryptocurrency for another, using crypto to buy goods or services, paying gas or network fees in the underlying token, and gifting crypto to someone else.
Wallet-to-wallet transfers where you retain beneficial ownership are not disposals, including depositing to a centralised exchange in your own name. The disposal is when the asset is actually sold or swapped. However, any network fee paid in the token itself is treated as a partial disposal of that token.
The 12-month holding rule applies per parcel. FIFO is commonly used where parcels cannot be specifically identified, but good records may support another identification method. The parcel sold needs to be clearly identifiable.
Capital losses on crypto can offset other capital gains and carry forward indefinitely.
The personal use asset exemption, under $10,000 and acquired and used genuinely for personal consumption rather than investment, is narrow and practically irrelevant for most investors who acquired crypto as an investment.
DeFi events, staking rewards, airdrops and yield farming generally produce ordinary income at the time received, with a separate CGT event when the resulting tokens are later sold. The compliance burden is real and most investors underestimate it.
The ATO has been running data-matching with crypto exchanges since 2014. Do not assume you are invisible.
What Happens From 1 July 2027
The 50% CGT discount disappears for new gains. It is proposed to be replaced by CPI cost-base indexation, plus a 30% minimum tax floor on the real, inflation-adjusted gain.
How it works:
Your cost base is indexed up by CPI inflation between the asset’s purchase date, or 1 July 2027, whichever is later, and the sale date.
The “real gain” is the sale price minus the indexed cost base.
The real gain is added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal rate, but with a 30% floor. If your marginal rate on the real gain would otherwise be below 30%, a top-up brings the effective rate up to 30%. If your marginal rate is already above 30%, the floor does not bite.
Exemption from the 30% floor is expected to apply to recipients of means-tested income support, including the Age Pension and JobSeeker. Other taxpayers get no exemption.
The Split Treatment for Assets Owned at 1 July 2027
Assets you already own at 30 June 2027 get split treatment when eventually sold.
The portion of the gain attributable to the pre-1 July 2027 period uses the existing 50% discount.
The portion attributable to the post-1 July 2027 period uses the new CPI-indexation plus 30% minimum model.
Two methods are available for splitting:
Actual valuation
Use the asset’s market value as at 30 June 2027 as the dividing point. For shares, that is the closing market price on 30 June 2027. For crypto, that is the closing exchange price. For property, business interests and illiquid assets, this means a formal valuation.
ATO apportionment formula
Pro-rata the gain across the holding period based on days held. This is simpler, but less accurate when growth was concentrated in one part of the holding period.
For shares and crypto, the actual valuation method will almost always produce better outcomes because both asset classes have publicly observable prices.
Worked Example 1: BHP Shares Sold in FY28 vs FY27
You bought 1,000 BHP shares at $40 each in 2022. Cost base $40,000.
Assumptions:
• 30 June 2027 market price: $58 per share, meaning the portfolio is worth $58,000
• Sale in October 2027 at $70 per share, meaning proceeds of $70,000
• Illustrative CPI between 1 July 2027 and the October sale date: 1%
Total nominal gain: $30,000.
Splitting the Gain, Actual Valuation Method
Pre-1 July 2027 portion: $58,000 - $40,000 = $18,000
Post-1 July 2027 portion: $70,000 - $58,000 = $12,000
Tax on the Pre-1 July 2027 Portion
This portion keeps the existing 50% discount.
Step | Calculation | Amount |
Pre-2027 gain | $18,000 | |
50% CGT discount | × 50% | $9,000 taxable |
Tax at top marginal rate | $9,000 × 47% | $4,230 |
Tax on the Post-1 July 2027 Portion
This portion is taxed under the proposed CPI indexation plus 30% minimum rules.
Step | Calculation | Amount |
Indexed cost base | $58,000 × 1.01 | $58,580 |
Real gain | $70,000 - $58,580 | $11,420 |
Tax at top marginal rate, 47%, above the 30% floor | $11,420 × 47% | $5,367 |
Total CGT in FY28: $9,597.
Comparison: Selling the Same 1,000 Shares Before 30 June 2027
Step | Calculation | Amount |
Full gain | $70,000 - $40,000 | $30,000 |
50% CGT discount | × 50% | $15,000 taxable |
Tax at top marginal rate | $15,000 × 47% | $7,050 |
Difference: $2,547 more tax for the FY28 sale.
This difference is modest in this case because most of the gain had already accrued before 1 July 2027 and is protected by the split treatment. The longer you hold past 1 July 2027 before selling, the wider the gap becomes, because more of the gain falls into the post-2027 bucket.
Worked Example 2: BHP Shares Bought Entirely After 1 July 2027
You buy 1,000 BHP shares on 1 August 2027 at $60 per share. Cost base $60,000. You sell in mid-2030 at $90 per share. Proceeds $90,000.
Nominal gain: $30,000.
Assumption: CPI averages 3% per year between purchase and sale, compounding to approximately 9.3% over three years, rounded to 9% for this illustration.
Step | Calculation | Amount |
Cost base indexed for three years at 3% CPI | $60,000 × 1.09 | $65,400 |
Sale proceeds | $90,000 | |
Real, inflation-adjusted capital gain | $90,000 - $65,400 | $24,600 |
Tax at top marginal rate | $24,600 × 47% | $11,562 |
Effective tax rate on the nominal $30,000 gain: 38.5%.
Compare that to the old 50% discount rules on the same gain:
$30,000 × 50% × 47% = $7,050, an effective rate of 23.5%.
The new model is roughly 64% more expensive in tax on a three-year share hold at the top marginal rate.
The longer the holding period, the more relief the CPI indexation provides. A 10-year hold at 3% average CPI indexes the cost base up by roughly 34%, eating meaningfully into the nominal gain.
But even on a 10-year hold, the new model typically lands at an effective rate of around 30% to 38% for top-marginal-rate investors, compared with 23.5% under the old rules.
Worked Example 3: Crypto Bought in the 2021 Cycle, Sold in FY28
Probably the most relevant scenario for many readers.
You bought 1 BTC at $30,000 in mid-2021. By 30 June 2027, BTC is trading at $120,000, meaning the asset has gained $90,000. You sell in mid-FY28 at $140,000. Total nominal gain: $110,000.
Assumption: illustrative CPI between 1 July 2027 and the sale date is 3%.
Splitting the Gain, Actual Valuation Method
Using the 30 June 2027 closing price:
Pre-1 July 2027 portion: $120,000 - $30,000 = $90,000
Post-1 July 2027 portion: $140,000 - $120,000 = $20,000
Tax on the Pre-1 July 2027 Portion
This portion keeps the existing 50% discount.
Step | Calculation | Amount |
Pre-2027 gain | $90,000 | |
50% CGT discount | × 50% | $45,000 taxable |
Tax at top marginal rate | $45,000 × 47% | $21,150 |
Tax on the Post-1 July 2027 Portion
This portion is taxed under the proposed CPI indexation plus 30% minimum rules.
Step | Calculation | Amount |
Indexed cost base | $120,000 × 1.03 | $123,600 |
Real gain | $140,000 - $123,600 | $16,400 |
Tax at top marginal rate, 47%, above the 30% floor | $16,400 × 47% | $7,708 |
Total CGT in FY28: $28,858.
Comparison: Selling the Same BTC Before 30 June 2027 at the Same Notional $120,000 Price
Step | Calculation | Amount |
Full pre-Budget gain | $120,000 - $30,000 | $90,000 |
50% CGT discount | × 50% | $45,000 taxable |
Tax at top marginal rate | $45,000 × 47% | $21,150 |
Difference: $7,708 more tax for the FY28 sale. The additional tax is entirely on the new-rules portion accrued after 1 July 2027.
The split treatment protects the bulk of the historic gain.
The lesson for crypto holders specifically: if you have been thinking about taking profit on a 2021-cycle position, FY27 is the cleanest window. Selling later does not lose you the 50% discount on the pre-2027 portion, but anything accrued after 1 July 2027 is taxed under the less favourable new model.
For positions you bought after 1 July 2027, there is no split treatment. The full gain is under the new rules.
Worked Example 4: A Lower-Income Spouse Holding Shares
The CGT reform changes the maths on holding investments in a lower-income spouse’s name.
This is the part of the reform that has had the least commentary so far, and arguably matters the most for families running this strategy.
Say Mum has $30,000 of other income, from part-time work or a career break, and her starting marginal rate is 16%. She holds shares in her name and realises a $40,000 capital gain.
Under Current Rules
• Discounted gain: $40,000 × 50% = $20,000 added to her income
• Her total taxable income becomes $50,000
• Using FY26 rates, $15,000 of the discounted gain sits in her 16% bracket
• The remaining $5,000 pushes her into the 30% bracket
• Tax on the gain: roughly $3,900 marginal-rate tax plus approximately $400 Medicare, meaning approximately $4,300
• Effective rate on the $40,000 gain: roughly 10.8%
Note on the maths: the precise effective rate depends on LITO, Medicare phase-in and exact bracket position. The headline conclusion, a sub-15% effective rate under the current rules, holds across reasonable assumptions.
Under the New Rules
This assumes the asset is acquired after 1 July 2027, so there is no split treatment.
• Assume modest CPI indexation of $1,200 on a one-year hold
• Real gain: $38,800
• Mum’s $30,000 of other income plus the $38,800 real gain creates taxable income of $68,800
• Most of the gain pushes into the 30% bracket
• Marginal-rate tax on the real gain: roughly $9,500 plus approximately $780 Medicare, or approximately $10,300
• Effective rate on the real gain: approximately 26.6%
• 30% floor binds, with a top-up applied to reach $38,800 × 30% = $11,640
• Effective rate on the $40,000 nominal gain: 29.1%
What is actually going on: even before the 30% floor, the new rules push Mum’s effective rate on this gain from approximately 11% to approximately 26%. That is because the discounted $20,000 under the old rules fits more neatly inside her low bracket than the $38,800 real gain under the new rules does.
The 30% floor adds another approximately $1,300 on top.
So the floor itself is not the only story. The loss of the 50% discount is doing most of the work.
Either way, the new model more than doubles the effective tax rate for a lower-income spouse on a short-term hold.
The strategy of holding growth assets in the lower-income spouse’s name, historically a no-brainer, is materially less effective under the new rules.
For longer holds of five years or more, CPI indexation eats more into the nominal gain and the relative damage softens. But the strategy is fundamentally less powerful than it was.
Families using this structure will need to rethink it for new acquisitions from 1 July 2027 onwards.
What This Means Practically
A few clear takeaways emerge from working through the numbers.
1. FY27 Is the Last Full Year of the Existing 50% CGT Discount
Same as for property.
If you have been thinking about taking profit on a share or crypto position, rebalancing your portfolio, derisking, funding a property deposit or contributing to super, FY27 may produce a meaningfully better tax outcome than FY28 and beyond.
This is not sell-everything advice.
It is a timing decision for crystallisations that were already on your roadmap.
2. The Split Treatment Protects Most of Your Historic Gain
For assets you already own, the pre-1 July 2027 gain is grandfathered through the split treatment.
You do not lose the 50% discount on the accrued historic gain. You only lose it on future growth.
This means the urgency to sell everything before 30 June 2027 is overstated.
Long-term holds you have no intention of selling can keep compounding. The decision applies specifically to positions you had been intending to crystallise within the next one to three years.
3. The Combined Play With Super Is Where This Lights Up
This is the play I keep pushing on for BWC clients with material unrealised gains.
Combine three things in a single financial year:
• Crystallise the gain in FY27 to capture the existing 50% CGT discount on the full gain
• Use your concessional super cap, including unused carry-forward, to deduct against the gain. Carry-forward expires on a rolling five-year basis, with FY21 unused cap expiring on 30 June 2026, FY22 expiring on 30 June 2027, and so on
• Make a non-concessional contribution from the after-tax proceeds, using the three-year bring-forward if eligible. The non-concessional cap is $120,000 per person for FY26, rising to $130,000 from 1 July 2026 due to indexation, so the bring-forward sits at $360,000 for FY26 contributions and $390,000 from FY27
For a couple with $150,000 of unused concessional cap between them, a $200,000 unrealised gain, and $360,000 to $390,000 of non-concessional capacity each, this combined play can move close to $1 million of wealth from personal-name volatile assets into super at the lowest possible CGT cost on the way through.
Inside super, the cash is taxed at 15% in accumulation phase or 0% in pension phase. After 30 June 2027, the same crystallisation costs more in CGT on the way in, and the new 30% minimum erodes the relative tax efficiency further.
The pre-30 June 2027 window is the alignment point between the old CGT discount and the existing super cap regime.
Caveat: this needs to be modelled against the $3 million Total Super Balance threshold for Division 296, which is expected to apply from 1 July 2026, subject to the final legislative position. Above $3 million, an additional 15% is expected to apply to the share of earnings attributable to the excess. Above $10 million, a further 10% is expected to apply, so 25% total. Both thresholds are expected to be CPI-indexed.
4. The Lower-Income Spouse Holding Strategy Needs a Rethink
Families running the classic “investments in the low-income spouse’s name” structure will need to update their approach from FY28.
The combination of the lost 50% discount and the proposed 30% minimum tax may reduce the tax advantage of this strategy in some cases, particularly for future gains accruing after 1 July 2027. However, the right ownership structure still depends on broader issues, including income levels, asset protection, family circumstances, estate planning and long-term investment objectives.
For new acquisitions after 1 July 2027, companies, superannuation and personal ownership may all need to be compared more carefully. Companies may offer a different tax profile, but dividend, franking, asset protection and extraction issues need to be considered.
Superannuation may offer concessional tax treatment, but contribution caps, preservation rules, total super balance thresholds and retirement objectives must also be considered.
For existing holdings already in a low-income spouse’s name, the split treatment protects the historic gain.
Do not transfer assets between spouses now without advice. The transfer itself is a CGT event that could wipe out the planning benefit.
Crypto-Specific Considerations
A few crypto-specific notes are worth flagging.
The compliance work is non-trivial. If you have been actively trading crypto across multiple exchanges, swapping between assets, earning yield, staking, or interacting with DeFi protocols, your CGT picture is complex.
The reform does not change the underlying complexity. It just makes the future tax rate less favourable.
Get a tax-aware crypto accounting tool, or a properly qualified accountant, sorting your historical position now, well before any FY27 crystallisation decision. The work to reconcile years of activity takes weeks, not days.
ATO data-matching in crypto is significant. The ATO’s crypto assets data-matching program covers the 2014–15 to 2025–26 financial years and is designed to identify crypto buyers, sellers and related transactions. Do not assume crypto activity is invisible or outside the tax system.
Wallet-to-wallet transfers do not trigger CGT as long as you retain beneficial ownership. Moving BTC from your hardware wallet to your software wallet, or depositing into a centralised exchange account in your own name, is not a disposal.
But sending crypto to someone else’s wallet, or swapping one token for another, generally is. Network fees paid in the token itself are a partial disposal of that token.
FIFO is commonly used where parcels cannot be specifically identified. If you have multiple parcels of the same crypto bought at different prices, good records may support another identification method, but the parcel sold needs to be clearly identifiable.
For crypto held across multiple exchanges and wallets, parcel identification can be operationally difficult. Where records do not clearly identify the parcel disposed of, FIFO may be used in practice, which can mean the oldest, lowest-cost-base coins are treated as disposed of first.
Personal use exemption is narrow. Do not bank on it. The ATO interprets “personal use” very strictly, and the exemption is capped at $10,000 per asset. For practical purposes, assume every crypto disposal is a CGT event.
Why This Should Be Reviewed Before EOFY
For investors holding material share or crypto positions, the issue is not simply whether the rules are changing.
The issue is whether your current holdings, tax position, super capacity and timing strategy are still aligned.
Some positions may be worth holding. Some may be worth crystallising in FY27. Some may be better paired with a super contribution strategy. Others may need compliance work completed before any sensible modelling can happen.
The key is to review your position early enough that you still have options.
The Business & Wealth Collective’s EOFY Strategy Session is designed to help business owners, investors and family groups identify what may need attention before the end of financial year, what should be modelled properly, and what decisions may need to be planned before the FY27 window closes.
Where the BWC Team Comes In
Across the next 18 months, working through CGT timing decisions on share and crypto portfolios is one of the highest-leverage pieces of work we will do with clients.
Through Configured Business, where my team and I sit across the operational and structural side, we handle the modelling, parcel-level analysis, integration with super contributions, and compliance work to make sure FY27 crystallisations are documented properly.
Through Precision in Numbers, PIN, where we sit across the broader financial and tax strategy for the family group, we look at how each crystallisation fits with the rest of the wealth plan: super contribution timing, property decisions, debt structure and intergenerational planning.
For most BWC clients with material share or crypto holdings, the right way into this is a Strategy Review. We map your portfolio against the FY27 deadline, model the FY27 versus FY28-plus comparison on your specific holdings, identify which parcels are worth crystallising and which are better held, and produce a one-page strategic recommendation.
For active crypto investors, the Strategy Review can also catch up the historical compliance picture, particularly if you have been trading across multiple platforms over several years.
The FY27 window closes 30 June 2027.
For positions of any meaningful size, the modelling work alone takes weeks, and the right execution timing matters enormously.
Do not leave it to the May 2027 panic. Start the conversation now.
Read the Full Budget Series
This article continues our 2026-27 Federal Budget series:
Part 1: The 2026-27 Federal Budget, Part 1: 8 Hidden Growth Opportunities
Part 2: The 2026-27 Federal Budget, Part 2: Trusts, Property and Why Structure Review Matters Before EOFY
Part 3: The 2026-27 Federal Budget, Part 3: The Action Plan
Part 4: The 2026-27 Federal Budget, Part 4: Shares & Crypto Under the New CGT Rules
General Information Disclaimer
This article provides general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances, objectives, financial situation, tax position or legal structure. It is not personal tax, financial, legal or investment advice.
The Federal Budget measures discussed in this article were announced on 12 May 2026 and many require legislation, regulations, ATO guidance or further program detail before they take effect. The final rules, eligibility criteria, thresholds, timing and practical outcomes may change.
Before making decisions about tax, superannuation, property, trusts, business structures, investments, asset sales or contributions, you should obtain advice based on your specific circumstances.
The Business & Wealth Collective can help you review your position and identify which areas may require further advice before EOFY.
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